Local News in Brief : Mission Viejo : Family Crisis Hot Line May Be Forced to Close
The Mission Viejo Family Crisis Center, which also operates a 24-hour crisis hot line, may be out of money and out of business by the end of the month, its operator said Friday.
Joyce Sumner Slechta, a marriage and family therapist in Mission Viejo, said she has operated the hot line with about 40 volunteers since 1980.
But in 1986, when the federal government reduced money to the states for social services, the hot line lost $35,000, about half its annual budget; most of the budget pays the phone bill, she said.
The center’s hot line, Slechta said, offers counseling and referrals for such problems as incest, suicide and homelessness.
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